How far can the apple fall? Differences in teacher perceptions of minority and immigrant parents and their impact on academic outcomes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

While a large body of research has focused on increasing parental involvement in schools, less work has considered teacher perceptions of parental involvement. Teacher perceptions of parents are important because they influence teacher practices and relationships with students, with ensuing consequences for student outcomes. Prior research suggests that teacher perceptions of parents vary by children's family background, but empirical work comparing teacher perceptions of parental involvement across groups and the impact of such perceptions on different student outcomes is lacking. Using nationally representative data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, we find that even after taking into account parents' self-reported involvement in their adolescent children's education, teachers are less likely to perceive that minority immigrant parents are as involved as native-born White parents. Patterns also differ for teachers of English and teachers of math in ways that are consistent with racial and ethnic stereotypes about academic ability. Further, teacher perceptions of parental involvement matter for student GPAs and teacher recommendations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)132-145
Number of pages14
JournalSocial Science Research
Volume74
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2018

Keywords

  • Immigrant families
  • Parental involvement
  • Racial and ethnic minority families
  • Student outcomes
  • Teacher perceptions

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Sociology and Political Science

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